Stephen Hudak
Orlando Sentinel
(TNS)
The Apopka City Council voted, 3-2, to express “no confidence” in Fire Chief Sean Wylam and to fire City Attorney Michael Rodriguez, but Mayor Bryan Nelson said Thursday he does not intend to fire either.
“I hope you take that to heart, the will of this council,” city commissioner Kyle Becker said to Nelson after the votes Wednesday, which were mostly ceremonial because only the mayor has authority under the city charter to hire and fire.
Wylam has been under pressure from the community — and rank-and-file firefighters — since last summer’s accidental, on-duty death of firefighter Austin Duran, who was crushed under a trailer of sand he was directed to move though he had never been trained how to move it.
Austin Duran’s family and others often speak harshly of Wylam at city council meetings.
“We all know what needs to be done. Why are we sitting on our hands and not tearing this failed leadership apart so that we can rebuild, reform and improve the city’s fire services?” Michael Duran, father of the fallen fighter, said at Wednesday’s meeting.
The votes for Wylam and Rodriguez, proposed by Becker, came near the end of a marathon, eight-hour meeting.
“This is not sustainable, what’s going on in these council chambers every single week,” Becker said of sharp criticism of the fire chief’s leadership and poor communication skills. “We’ve talked ad nauseam on this topic. It’s time to hire new leadership in the department.”
Nelson, who leads council as mayor, and commissioner Alexander Smith voted against “no confidence” and firing Rodriguez.
The mayor said he was limited in what he can say publicly because the Duran family put the city on notice they intend to sue; the city and firefighters union are negotiating a contract; and the city has a pending search for an expert to be a “change manager” for the fire department.
Nelson in his second term as mayor defended Wylam, who did not return calls for comment.
“He’s a great fire chief,” the mayor said. “Is he the greatest communicator in the world? No. I think he would agree with that.”
Since Wylam’s appointment as chief in 2019, the city has generated $1.3 million more in revenue from billings for emergency-medical services provided by firefighter-paramedics, Nelson said, crediting the fire chief’s analytical skills, attention to detail and credentials.
He said Wylam also reined in overtime spending in the fire division, which has about 125 firefighters.
The mayor said Wylam lacks the warm, personable communication skills of his immediate predecessor, Chuck Carnesale, who was “great in front of the TV camera, great on Facebook and great with the troops but who operationally was not nearly as efficient.”
“You got one guy that holds you accountable for everything, and one guy who wanted to be your best friend,” Nelson said.
About 85% of the city’s unionized firefighters voted “no confidence” in Wylam last month.
The mayor discounted that figure because the vote was not conducted by secret ballot.
But Apopka firefighters don’t trust the department’s leadership, said Lt. Alex Klepper, who heads the Apopka fire union.
“The big thing is the department cannot continue to function without a clear direction and transparency — that’s causing a lot of frustration, a lot of fear and anger,” Klepper told council. “We have to know where we’re going. We have to know what the plan is.”
A consultant’s review of the fire department, conducted by Gannon Emergency Solutions following Austin Duran’s death, alleged that firefighter health and safety programs had been neglected for years, a charge Wylam disputed in suggested edits of the findings.
Commissioned by the city, Gannon said in a 45-page report the department “needs a reset” and recommended hiring a “change manager” to oversee organizational and cultural changes needed to improve accountability, strategic planning and other functions.
The report took note of “the shared grief over Austin Duran’s death, but other than that, the department is dysfunctional in many key areas and needs urgent operational and administrative reform to improve both member safety and workplace culture.”
Disagreement over the drafting of the “request for proposal,” or RFP for short, contributed to the call for firing Rodriguez, as it appears to prohibit Gannon from winning a city contract to implement the strategies they outlined to improve the fire department.
In a memo to city council, Rodriguez noted, “it has been the policy of the City’s Finance Department to exclude from bidding consultants that have provided consultation for projects to be implemented at a later date,” a description which could be applied to Gannon.
Commissioners Becker, Diane Velazquez and Nick Nesta said they were dissatisfied with Rodriguez.
Velazquez, the lone woman on council, said she sometimes feels “dismissed” by the attorney.
Rodriguez has interpreted the city charter to require the mayor’s consent to replace him.
Becker disagrees with that view. He said terminating Rodriguez’s contract would be “an HR decision at the council level.”
In an interview Thursday, the mayor defended Rodriguez, hired in 2020.
“He’s a very, very smart guy. Not very personable, maybe, but like I said [Wednesday] night, our legal counsel’s here to tell us what we need to hear not what we want to hear,” Nelson said. “I’m perfectly happy with his performance, what he’s done for the city.”
©2023 Orlando Sentinel. Visit orlandosentinel.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
